The Hindu : Rs. 100 cr. for KSRTC infrastructure

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Rs. 100 cr. for KSRTC infrastructure

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE Feb. 25. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will take up a Rs. 100-crore programme to provide more infrastructure such as bus stands and improve passenger amenities, the KSRTC Managing Director, K. Jairaj, has said.

He was speaking at the function organised by the KSRTC and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) here today to distribute fuel conservation awards.

He said the Kempegowda Bus Station in Bangalore was being modernised and a state-of-the-art inter-State bus terminus would come up on Mysore Road. The Mysore Road terminus, from where south-bound buses would operate, would ease the congestion at the Kempegowda Bus Station.

The four road transport corporations in the State — KSRTC, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North-west Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), and North-east Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) — carried 70 lakh passengers a day. Of them, the KSRTC alone carried 20 lakh passengers a day in the old Mysore area with 27,000 trips.

Mr. Jairaj said the KSRTC's revenue this year stood at Rs. 688 crore and it was planned to increase it to Rs. 750 crore next year. The corporation, he said, would make efforts to increase fuel efficiency and bring down the accident rate.

The average fuel efficiency now was 5 km.p.l. (kilometres per litre) and the KSRTC planned to increase it to 5.1 km.p.l. Similarly, the corporation hoped to bring down the accident rate from 1.6 per lakh kilometres to 0.10, he said.

The Chief Secretary, B.S. Patil, who gave away the awards, asked the KSRTC to provide better bus-stands and bus services in rural areas. The KSRTC was a huge undertaking and it could compete easily with private transport carriers.

Commending the KSRTC for turning the corner, he said, "Nobody can now stop it from moving forward." There was a time when the KSRTC was mentioned when loss-making undertakings were discussed. Now that was no longer the case.

He urged the IOC to double or treble the amount of Rs. 15 lakh it had given towards the conservation awards.

The Chairman of the KSRTC and the other three corporations, R.V. Devaraj, said the fuel bill of the four corporations stood at Rs. 541 crore. Of this, the KSRTC's share was Rs. 250 crore. The four corporations needed 1.12 lakh kilolitres of fuel every year.

He said the KSRTC had taken measures to bring down the fuel consumption and increase efficiency. The KSRTC stood second in the country in fuel efficiency.

The Executive Director (Consumer and Sales), Indian Oil Corporation, G.C. Daga, said Bangalore and some other cities would be provided with fuel that met Euro 2 standards from April 1 this year. The IOC would introduce the Euro 2 standard fuel in other parts of the country by April 1, 2005. The improved fuel would improve mileage and cause less pollution. He said the country's fuel requirement was 100 million tonnes, while indigenous production stood at 30 million tonnes. The country, therefore, had to import 70 per cent of its requirement.

The KSRTC Vice-Chairman, Babu N. Anavekar, the Principal Secretary (Transport), B.L. Sridhar, the IOC General Manager, A.M. Nanjundan, and senior KSRTC officials were present.

Earlier, awards were distributed in several categories. Some of the winners of the awards were: Madikeri depot of Mangalore division (Rs. 1 lakh), Channapatna depot of Bangalore Rural Division (Rs. 75,000), Arsikere depot of Chikmagalur division (Rs. 50,000), Kunigal depot of Tumkur division (Rs. 75,000), Chitradurga depot of Davangere division (Rs. 50,000), Davangere depot of Davangere division (Rs. 25,000), Ramanathapura depot of Hassan division (Rs. 1 lakh), Depot 1 of Bangalore division (Rs. 75,000), and Depot 3 of Bangalore division (Rs. 50,000).

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